The other day I decided to paint a turtle. Not really quite sure why except that I kept thinking about how the shell would make a nice trivet design and I think a lot about trivets. At first I was thinking big turtles...like a Sea Turtle... since I spend a lot of time in Florida. But instead I decided to start small. And it seemed appropriate that I would start with the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)... little ones...about 4-6 inches and ironically just about the size of a coaster! So I settled on a Southern Painted Turtle usually found along the Mississippi River to the Gulf Coast....mostly in marshes, ponds, lakes and creeks. The Southern Painted Turtle will be available on Coasters (and Trivets) very soon!